Understanding and treating the hidden wounds of war

Documentary video explores the hidden wounds of war

The Oklahoma Center for Conscience and Oklahoma GI Rights Hotline invite you to a screening of the film “PTSD: Invisible Wounds of War” on Tuesday, July 21 at 6:30 pm at Joy Mennonite Church in Oklahoma City. After the film, there will be a discussion led by Nathanial Batchelder, a medic in Vietnam and director of Oklahoma City Peace House, Phyllis Byerly, a retired psychologist, and James Branum, a lawyer specializing in military law and supervising attorney for the Oklahoma GI Rights Hotline.

The film presents information about the vast scope of the problem, the potentially severe consequences, and the necessity to seek help. Veterans, elected officials and therapists who specialize in PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) explain the condition and discuss what resources are available and what needs to be improved in treatment and public policy.

The event is free and open to the public. Joy Mennonite is located at 504 NE 16th Street, on the corner of Lincoln.

For more information, email info@centerforconscience.org or call 405-236-4938, ext. 2.

2 Comments

I want to tell you that this is written to honor our serviceman/women. No I never had to go to combat due to some medical issues that I had in the Marine Corps, But I have a lot of friends that have came back from over seas and how the war effected them. Here is something that I wrote to honor my brothers of all services.

—To Control and Hold Back the Tears—

Not many Americans really know what goes on,
And why when we get home so many of us veterans have in common,
Even though a lot of our memories are not the same,
We still have the same feelings as we lost our buddies and still can remember them name by name.
It all starts as we go out and go on patrol,
We pray to come back in one piece, which is our goal.
And yes, this is something that everyone prays for,
Because we see so much that hurts our hearts more and more.
To see our buddies get thrown and blown around,
Some are hurt and some just wounded, but others are heaven bound.
Coming back home is something that we all have to deal with and it is very hard,
Especially as we see our friends being buried in a National Cemetery grave yard.
To think that we will always remember these things as we get older and go through the years,
It’s hard for us not to think about it and hold back the tears.
Some of us come with deep echoes and ringing sounds in our mind,
This causes us to lose control and to keep our way of thinking in a bind.
It is really hard for a lot of people to understand what it feels like to come back,
And to always feel like you are under attack.
Yes, this time of pain and is hard to control.
with help from the Lord and our family, we try to calm our soul.
As the time goes on and more and more of us are coming back and being diagnosed,
It finally helps us come out of our deep and wanting to be alone, and comatose.
Thank you to everyone that wants to try to understand what it feels like for us to go through and see what we see.
Because in our lives, it is finally here to show us that there is someone who cares for them and for me.
By Frank Pulver
SSgt/USMCR

Frank, thanks so much for sharing that, it really describes PTSD. I hope you are giving yourself the time and patience to heal the “hidden wounds” of war. Know you are not alone, and that with time and forgiveness (of yourself and others) you can move on, while changed and never forgetting those you cared about who were injured or killed. I have heard from others that creative expression like this is a very helpful process with PTSD. Best of luck to you.